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498 Antonio Mursia

alternatively, Matthew of Sicily to come to their city . Another task,
78
however, awaited the friar from Agrigento in Sicily in about the same
years. A task that, once again, he was called upon to perform on behalf
of the Catalan-Aragonese crown. In 1442, in fact, upon the death of
the bishop of Agrigento Lorenzo Messasal, Alfonso decided to place
him in the episcopal chair of the Sicilian city .
79

6. The conclusion of a long journey

The re-reading of the documentation preserved within the Spanish
and Sicilian historical archives has allowed, here, to be able to reflect
further on the figure and activity of Matthew of Agrigento. On a person-
ality who, for too long, has been considered of secondary importance by
historians dealing with issues related to Franciscan observance. Only
Paul Evangelisti, a few years back, was able to place in the proper per-
spective the contribution made by this Franciscan to the construction
of the political identity of the Trastámara kingdoms . It was a role that
80
we have now attempted to make more perceptible by highlighting, on
the one hand, the initiatives pursued by the Franciscan within city con-
texts and, on the other, his ability to move with some dexterity between
the crown and the papacy. At a time when the intentions of pontiffs
Martin V and Eugene IV often clashed with those of the Aragonese ruler.
Matthew, thus, enjoying the full confidence of the popes and the
Trastámara, was able to act several times as an intermediary between
the two authorities. It was Bernardino himself, in this sense, who pub-
licly recalled the mediation task performed by the Agrigentine, who, in
1427, was able to bring King Alfonso closer to Pope Martin V . On the
81
other hand, the documentary sources up to this point examined reveal
numerous episodes of reconciliation elicited by Matthew in various cit-
ies through his sermocinal activity. Already in Verona, the Franciscan

78 See S. Gozzo, Studi e ricerche cit., p. 266, and R. Pratesi, L’introduzione della
regolare Osservanza nella Francia meridionale, «Archivum franciscanum histori-
cum», 50 (1957), p. 194.
79 In Sicily, the ruler enjoyed the privilege of Apostolic Legation, issued to Roger
Hauteville by Pope Urban II, which allowed him to have a say in the appointment
of island bishops. On this institution, cf. the works of S. Fodale, Stato e Chiesa dal
privilegio di Urbano II a Giovan Luca Barberi, Società Editrice Storia di Napoli, Na-
poli 1980, 575-600, and Id., L’Apostolica Legazia e altri studi su Stato e Chiesa,
Sicania, Messina 1991. See again, S. Vacca (a cura di), La Legazia Apostolica.
Chiesa, potere e società in età medievale e moderna, Salvatore Sciascia editore,
Caltanissetta-Roma 2000.
80 Cf. P. Evangelisti, Fede, mercato, comunità cit., p. 627.
81 See Bernardino da Siena, Prediche volgari cit., p. 157.

Mediterranea - ricerche storiche - Anno XX - Dicembre 2023
ISSN 1824-3010 (stampa) ISSN 1828-230X (online)